A summer car show of a different kind eyed for Worcester

A local group has stepped forward and is looking to fill the void created by the departure of the New England Summer Nationals annual automobile show.

The group, made up of Gary Cooper and Roger Steele of Worcester and Marissa Brown of Webster, wants to stage an antique car show in Green Hill Park from July 4-7.

They emphasized their show will focus solely on the exhibition of classic and antique cars and will not include any of the more controversial aspects of the New England Summer Nationals, such the burnouts that were held in the downtown, nor will it be a motorcycle show.

It will include some live entertainment and other family activities as well, they added.

Mr. Cooper said he attended the Summer Nationals every year it was in the city and he was sad to hear that its organizer, Robert J. Moscoffian, decided to move his event to Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut.

“Our event will be geared more to an older crowd,” he told the Parks and Recreation Commission Thursday night. “We want to turn the clock back for our show and make it all about antique cars. Green Hill Park is the perfect place to display antique cars; it's an awesome place.”

In order to be able to stage the show in Green Hill Park, the group needs to get the Parks and Recreation Commission to agree to close the park to public use for the four days of the show.

Robert C. Antonelli Jr., assistant commissioner of public works and parks, described the new event as a “streamed-down” version of the Summer Nationals, without any of the negative issues associated with that event in the past.

“This could be a really good home run for us,” he said. “The impact to the neighborhoods certainly won't be as great with this kind of event. A majority of the issues we have with the Summer Nationals in the past had nothing to do with what was held in the park; in fact, the park function worked well. The only issue will be the closing of the park.”

The Parks and Recreation Commission approved in concept the use of Green Hill Park for the car show.

But it is making its final approval contingent upon a public hearing that will be held Feb. 21, at which time neighborhood residents will have an opportunity to hear about the plans from the show organizers and discuss any issues or concerns they may have.

While all the commissioners appeared most receptive to the car show, Commissioner Paul Gunnerson said he felt uncomfortable giving final approval to anything without first giving neighborhood residents an opportunity to hear about the plans and weigh in on them.

“I like the idea a lot,” Mr. Gunnerson said. “I think it addresses a lot of the not so palatable things that were part of the Summer Nationals. The fact that a lot of the objectionable things will not be happening is certainly good to see.

“I honestly think the neighborhood will want to embrace this,” he added. “But I feel uncomfortable having five people who don't abut the park make a decision on this without first hearing from the people of the neighborhood. I've only known about this for two days and the general public doesn't know about it all. I'd like to see the process a little more advertised and made known; it's the right and fair thing to do.”

Mr. Gunnerson proposed delaying a vote on the request to close Green Hill Park until a public hearing could first be held in a couple of weeks. But the organizers said they are facing significant time constraints when it comes to organizing the car show. They said they fear that if there is a further delay, many antique car owners will end up deciding to attend other car shows during that weekend.

“We're not sure if we could get together this show if there is a delay,” Mr. Cooper said. “We actually needed to hit the ground running on this yesterday.”

As a compromise, Commissioner Chairman Robert J. Hennigan Jr. suggested that the commission consider approving the car show in concept, but also requiring the event organizers to attend the public hearing Feb. 21 so they can meet with neighborhood residents.

The organizers agreed to the compromise, saying it would enable them to go ahead and begin pre-registration for their show.